A ring and a promise
by NinjaKitten930
Summary: Alec decides to catch up with his siblings after weeks away. They hang out and it is just like when they had never met Clary and their lives had never changed. Except one very important change in Alec's life that he forgot to mention to his brother and sister. Please R and R


_Author's note- I am ignoring the City of Lost Souls explosion that happening because it makes me sad. So this story it going on from City of Lost Souls as though Malec never-Spoiler Alert-broke up. *cries*_

_I own nothing! __*cries some more*_

* * *

He was sitting at the kitchen table of the institute. Sipping his coffee. It had been months now since he'd stayed the night at the institute. He used to have to come home every few nights because he had a family to take care of.

Alec sighed, resting his head on his hands. He didn't see his siblings as often anymore, but he also felt that their relationship had never been stronger. Jace's weird skin-holy-fire situation had finally been figured out. He and Clary had been going steady now. Isabelle surprised Alec the most though, with the fact that she was still with the bloodsucker Simon. The three siblings had all found someone to share their lives with. Now that they had other people in their lives, Alec felt that they relied on each other as siblings more than before as the only companions they had. It had worked before, but Alec was so much happier now.

Alec figured that Magnus would probably be getting home soon. Home… he had learned to call the flat home for many months now that the Sebastion situation had finally been resolved. He and Magnus had had their difficulties, but Alec knew who he wanted to share his life with.

Alec had spent the night at the institute due to a call from Isabelle and Jace of some rogue vampires. They had found Maureen with bits of Raphael's clan. It had taken the entire night and the three had been pretty beat up afterwards. After a quick text to Magnus to assure him that he was alive, Alec dropped onto his bed, bloodied clothes and all.

That morning, Alec had enjoyed a steaming shower. He didn't have many clothes to choose from as they had all been moved to Magnus's house. He found a ratty sweater and old pair of jeans that Magnus had refused to allow entrance into his flat and pulled them on. He had ended up in the kitchen not long after.

Alec had probably faired the worse out of his siblings. He had always been the protector and he'd pushed Izzy out of the way of a lunging bloodsucker. The deep slashes along his shoulder throbbed. He could almost ignore it if it wasn't coupled with a rather gruesome cut running along his calf. It would take weeks to fully heal, even with iratzes.

Alec heard muffled voices and he looked up to see Isabelle and Jace enter the kitchen. Jace limped from a healing fracture, but was otherwise unharmed. Isabelle was holding an ice pack to her head where she'd been slammed into the alley wall. Despite their wounds they smiled brightly when they saw their brother.

"Well damn, been a long time since I saw you here in the morning," Jace pointed out as he pulled open the fridge. Isabelle grabbed a cup of coffee and joined Alec at the table. "I figured you'd go over to Magnus's last night." Jace returned with a box of lucky charms and grabbed a handful from the bag. Ignoring Isabelle's raised eyebrows, he began munching on the cereal pieces, his eyes on his adopted brother.

Alec shrugged, sipping his coffee. "I was exhausted. There was no way I would have made it to Brooklyn." Isabelle nodded, obviously having felt the same bone-tired exhaustion last night.

"So you're not fighting with Sparkles? You were just tired?" Jace watched him suspiciously. Whenever Alec had been having troubles with Magnus he would hide out in the institute for a few days, so Alec understood why Jace would be suspicious.

"Definitely just tired."

Jace shrugged and he and Isabelle proceeded to talk about something that had happened a few days ago. Alec soon tuned them out, wondering how long he should stay before he can return to Magnus. He knew that he should visit with the family he hadn't seen for months now other than on hunts; yet he was extremely excited to return to Magnus. They'd been in the midst of 'celebrating' when they'd interrupted him with their call. He remembered Magnus threatening to send them to the moon if they called one more time just while things were getting good. A small smile lifted Alec's mouth.

Alec decided he'd spend a few hours with his siblings before returning to Magnus. He owed them that after they'd had to listen to Magnus cursing them through the phone before Alec could get it back.

Finally Alec began listening to Jace and Izzy again. Once there was a lull in their conversation he asked them what they were up to. After a general 'not much' he proposed Taki's.

After a bit of traffic dodging the trio reached the restaurant. They sat in the same booth they'd used to frequent only a year and a bit ago before their lives had all changed so drastically. After ordering their usual's, easy chatter filled the area. Isabelle and Alec mocked Jace on his date with Clary where they'd been going to the movies and he'd been knocked out by a demon, forcing Clary to save him. Alec stared, open-mouthed, at Isabelle as Jace told him how she'd said she might actually love Simon.

Alec had once again zoned out of the conversation as he picked at his fries. He stared at his phone on his lap, smiling at the simple text that he'd gotten last night by Magnus, "Love you. Come home when you can."

_Home_. It had never felt so real until he heard it from Magnus. He had had a key for some time now, but only now could he say that he lived with the man he loved. Only now did he feel so completely comfortable with himself and who he had chosen to love. It had sure as hell been a difficult choice and he could have just as easily ignored who he was, or at least not fallen in love with a downworlder. If it wasn't dealing with everyone else's prejudiced opinions, it was dealing with his own conflicted thoughts with loving Magnus, a man who had been loved by so many. Above all else, though, had been his father's reaction. No, he had never yelled at Alec. He never outright said to his son that he didn't support who he was. It was the sideways glances and muttered words when he thought Alec wasn't listening that let Alec know exactly what his father thought of him. It had taken Maryse quite a while to come around to the idea of Magnus being intimate with her son, but she did make the effort. Robert had turned away from the entire situation.

Alec shook the dark memories from his thoughts. He looked up to his siblings, noting the lack of chatter. Isabelle was staring at his right hand. She appeared confused. "Alec, where's your family ring?"

Alec looked down, instantly blushing. He had been meaning to tell the two, but he hadn't been sure when. He was pretty sure that in the middle of Taki's wasn't the right time. He turned to Jace and saw that his wide, shocked eyes were staring at his left hand instead.

"Alec, what's that?" His hand reached over the table to grab Alec's wrist. He lifted it to show the thick silver band on his ring finger. Isabelle's eyes widened to saucers as she stared at it.

"Ummm." Alec looked down, blushing furiously.

* * *

It had happened last night, before he'd gotten the call from his siblings. Alec came home to a beautifully prepared dinner from Magnus. He suggested they stay at home that night and Alec had no argument there. They ate between idle chatter. The food was delicious.

Alec rose from his chair, reaching Magnus hand and pulling him toward the couch. Magnus watched him nervously, but Alec didn't notice. He hadn't thought anything off of the romantically prepared dinner either. Magnus had always called him oblivious when it came to relationships.

"Alright Alec, I wanted to talk to you." Magnus turned to the shadowhunter . Alec swore he saw a blush on Magnus's cheeks. "We've known each other for over a year now. I know that's not long, but I know shadowhunters do these things pretty early." Still Alec stared at his boyfriend blankly. "You know I love you, and I've never been so happy as when you officially moved in and." Magnus paused. He closed his eyes and just as Alec was about to ask if he was alright, the warlock dropped onto one knee and pulled a box out from his jeans. "Well, I want to marry you."

Alec stared down at Magnus for a long time. He stared at the silver band as it was revealed. He was silent long enough that Magnus's glowing smile faltered to one of unease.

Even though he hadn't exactly been asked a question, Alec still whispered, "Yes." Magnus stared back at him for a few seconds before jumping up, wrapping his long arms around Alec. "Yes, yes yes," he whispered between kisses.

Magnus was right, shadowhunters did marry early in their lives. They had children early in their lives, and they died early in their lives. Alec wouldn't be filling out all of those credentials, but he could live with the man he loved and call him his. And as Magnus wrapped the simple band around his finger, everything felt like it fell perfectly in place.

Though Alec didn't really think about what he was doing, it felt right. He pulled the lightwood ring from his right ring finger and put it on Magnus's left. It wasn't exactly proper to give up your family ring, but Alec couldn't care less as Magnus's eyes lit up.

"I love you so much"

* * *

"Alec, does this mean what I think it means?" Isabelle asked. He'd never heard her as serious as she was right then, but he also felt the pent up excitement behind her eyes. He nodded, unable to keep the wide grin from his face. Isabelle shrieked, jumping up from the booth. Everyone stared at her but she didn't appear to care as she jumped up and down before throwing herself on top of her brother in a bone-crushing hug.

When finally Isabelle had pulled away enough to let Alec breath, he caught eyes with Jace. His brother had a big smile on his face, though he still looked a tad shell-shocked. "Congrats dude." His smile grew more sincere and he clapped Alec's shoulder from across the table. "You deserve this."

"_Yes,_" Alec thought to himself. "_I do deserve this._"

* * *

Please tell me what you think!


End file.
